UIS women's soccer team believes it's on verge of turnaround

Wednesday

The University of Illinois Springfield is marking its eighth year of women’s soccer. In their previous years, the Prairie Stars have never won more than four games in a single season.

They had ample chances to surpass the mark last year, but a series of close calls held them to a 4-11-3 overall record and a 1-11-3 Great Lakes Valley Conference record. UIS suffered four 1-0 losses in addition to three ties.

UIS coach Molly Grisham saw a different level of competitiveness from the Stars last week as they kicked off practice.

“I felt like this was the most competitive we’ve been,” she said. “I think they realize we’re just bringing in better and better players and everybody has to give their best in every training session.”

Since 2012, senior goalkeeper Paige Polunus has been a mainstay in the lineup when healthy. She played every minute of every game in 2012 and 2014. She started nine games in 2013, then missed the rest of the season with a broken leg.

Polunus should be supported by an experienced backline. Junior Sam Boettjer and sophomore Madisyn Coudriet return at center back. They have started every game of their college careers. Junior defender and two-year starter Nikki Auble is back from a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear last season. Sophomores Claire Schaible and Sam Morin also received starting minutes.

“I feel pretty confident that our back four are going to be solid and that our team defense is going to be pretty aggressive as well,” Grisham said.

Offensive lift

While UIS is led by a seasoned defense, Grisham is hoping the offense will take a step forward. The Stars finished next to last in the GLVC with 11 goals in 2014. Sophomore midfielder Regina Bolin and former player Kim Tokarski led UIS with three goals apiece last season.

In a move to generate offense, Grisham recruited several attacking players.

Freshman forward Karisa Rogers is one of those players. She tallied 27 goals and 10 assists as a senior at St. Charles (Missouri) West High School. Rogers scored 26 goals as a sophomore and had 19 as a junior.

“I think over her four-year career she’s going to do some damage in the GLVC and has the potential to really move us forward in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net,” Grisham said.

Some offense could come from freshman Annie Valenti.

“We brought her in thinking she’d be a holding midfielder, but she attacks much better than we thought,” Grisham said. “We’re excited to see what she will do in the final third in terms of getting into the attack for us. She played club soccer with Karisa Rogers, so they already have a real natural connection on the field.”

Sections

Information

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The State Journal-Register ~ Street address: One Copley Plaza (corner of Ninth Street and Capitol Avenue), Springfield, ILMailing address: The State Journal-Register, P.O. Box 219, Springfield, IL 62705-0219 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service